SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A Prince County man has been found guilty of setting a 2018 Halloween fire.
Nathan Paul Gaudet, 21, pleaded not guilty to arson and was tried by Supreme Court judge alone, Nov. 13-15, 2019, in Summerside. The verdict was delivered yesterday.
Gaudet was found near the scene of a fire at an unoccupied house on Ascension Road, near Tignish, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1.
Gaudet testified he planned to light a bong and watch the fire but was interrupted when two Tignish firefighters drove by and noticed the fire and his car.
Gaudet saw them and fled to the woods, only to re-emerge and say, “you got me”. He later claimed he meant they’d caught him with beer and marijuana in the car.
Chief Justice Tracey Clements said she considered the totality of the evidence carefully, but ultimately the circumstantial and direct evidence stacked against Gaudet.
“I do have significant concerns about the accused’s credibility,” said Clements.
There were several instances where Gaudet gave a different story at trial compared to his initial police statement.
Two moments Clements described dealt with a phone call Gaudet made to his then-girlfriend and the reason he had a large jerry can in his car.
To the police, Gaudet denied he had said he was caught setting a fire while on the phone to his girlfriend, whereas at trial she testified he had.
Similarly, Gaudet told police he had a gas can in the car because “you never know when you’re going to run out”, but at trial he said it was in the car because he used it earlier to fill up.
Clements also noted she didn't find satisfactory answers to why Gaudet was at the scene of the fire, hid in the woods when the firefighters noticed the car, had two empty jerry cans in the car, tried to dispose of evidence, resisted arrest, lied to police and made spontaneous admissions to firefighters and his girlfriend.
“Perhaps to state the obvious, not every contradiction or inconsistency detracts from the credibility of a witness,” said Clements. “However, in this case, I am troubled by the material contradictions and inconsistencies. I simply cannot accept the exculpatory evidence of the accused as being reliable or credible. In addition, the accused’s evidence does not leave me with a reasonable doubt.”
The defence requested a pre-sentence report before sentencing, which is scheduled for May 12, 2020.
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